| Language |
Considered as one of the main cultural distinctions in GSD teams. The lack of a standard language for communication between members makes difficult to develop an effective design. |
| Power distance |
It measures the degree of inequality acceptance. In cultures with high degree of power distance, the people tend to treat inequalities as a natural thing, accepting it easily; already in cultures with low degree of Power Distance, individuals wait that they are dealt in a uniform way regardless of positions (Hofstede et al. 2010Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. McGraw-Hill, 3a ed. ISBN: 978-0071664189, 561p.). |
| Individualism x Collectivism |
Individualism has the individual himself as the main orientation, while collectivism has an orientation directed towards common goals and objectives (MacGregor et al., 2005Macgregor, E., Hsieh, Y., Kruchten, P. (2005). The Impact of Intercultural Factors on Global Software Development. Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering, DOI: 10.1109/CCECE.2005.1557127.
https://doi.org/10.1109/CCECE.2005.15571...
; Hofstede et al. 2010Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. McGraw-Hill, 3a ed. ISBN: 978-0071664189, 561p.). |
| Uncertainty Avoidance |
It Refers to the degree to which the members of a culture feel threatened / unsecured by uncertain or unknown situations. Therefore, when a certain unexpected event occurs, the individual may feel unsure (MacGregor et al., 2005Macgregor, E., Hsieh, Y., Kruchten, P. (2005). The Impact of Intercultural Factors on Global Software Development. Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering, DOI: 10.1109/CCECE.2005.1557127.
https://doi.org/10.1109/CCECE.2005.15571...
; Hofstede et al. 2010Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. McGraw-Hill, 3a ed. ISBN: 978-0071664189, 561p.). |
| Communication Style |
There are individuals who use direct communication style, while others tend to transmit the information by subtle way. There are also people who consider the message context, while others only interpret the message content itself (Lee et al. 2008Lee, I., Choi, G. W., Kim, J., Kim, S., Lee, K., Kim, D., Han, M., Park, S. Y., An, Y. (2008). Cultural Dimensions for User Experience: Cross-Country and Cross-Product Analysis of Users’ Cultural Characteristics. BCS-HCI '
08
Proceedings of the
22
nd
British HCI Group Annual Conference on People and Computers: Culture, Creativity, Interaction, 1, 3-12. ISBN: 978-1-906124-04-5.). |
| Legislation/bureaucracy |
It points out that different sites may have their own rules or laws. So, problems related to legal aspects, such as the existence of countries with hardware import restrictions, different taxes, among others may arise (Cibotto et al. 2009Cibotto, R. A. G., Pagno, R. T., Tait, T. F. C., Huzita, E. H. M. (2009). Uma Análise da Dimensão Sócio-Cultural no Desenvolvimento Distribuído de Software. V Workshop Um Olhar Sociotécnico Sobre a Engenharia de Software
- WOSES, 96-107.). |
| Different Work Practices |
There are different work practices (work tools, behaviors, etc.), depending on the region, which may interfere with the performance of distributed teams (Avram, 2011Avram, G., Wulf, V. (2011). Guest editorial: Studying work practices in Global Software Engineering. Information and Software Technology, 53(9), 949-954. DOI:10.1016/j.infsof.2011.01.010.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2011.01...
). |
| Moral/Ethics |
It Refers to the set of rules applied in daily life and continuously used by every citizen. These rules guide each individual, guiding their actions and their judgments about what is moral or immoral, right or wrong, good or bad. |
| Ethics |
It points out the extracted set of knowledge of the investigation of human behavior when trying to explain the moral rules in a rational, reasoned, scientific and theoretical manner. It is part of the individual's personality. This defines the actions that are “right / wrong” for the same, such as the fulfillment of the word and time. |
| Trust |
It is one of the most important requirements in distributed teams (Age Falk et al., 2005Agerfalk, P. J., Fitzgerald, B., Holmstrom Olsson, H., Lings, B., Lundell, B., Ó Conchúir, E. (2005). A framework for considering opportunities and threats in distributed software development. In: Proceedings of the
International Workshop on Distributed Software Development, 47-61, Paris, France, Austrian Computer Society.; Moe and Smite, 2008Moe, N. B., Smite, D. (2008). Understanding a lack of trust in global software teams: a multiple-case study. Software Process: Improvement and Practice, 13(3), 217-231. DOI: 10.1002/spip.378.
https://doi.org/10.1002/spip.378....
), because the lack of trust among team members can influence communication, collaboration. However, it is not easy to establish a sense of trust. In some countries, the word is much more than a signed document. In others, the absence of such signature may represent a lack of commitment. |
| Beliefs/Religion |
There are several religions in the contemporary world, each one with their beliefs, concepts and rules to follow. Therefore, there are different holidays, importance and significance in the colors, gestures and symbols, assignments related to gender ("role" of man and woman), among others, which can interfere with the GSD project. |
| Time Perception |
There are individuals who can focus and execute only one task at a time, proceeding sequentially (monochrome time), while others operate in parallel, performing several activities simultaneously (polychrome time) (Hofstede et al. 2010Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. McGraw-Hill, 3a ed. ISBN: 978-0071664189, 561p.). This can influence the work planning and tasks allocation among team members. |
| Creativity |
The ability to create, produce new things, the "think outside the box" is also one of the aspects that can interfere with DSD. One example cited by Babar and Zaheadi (2013Babar, M. A., and Zahedi, M. (2013). Understanding Structures and Affordances of Extended Teams in Global Software Development. 2013
IEEE 8th
International Conference on Global Software
Engineering, 226-235. DOI:10.1109/ICGSE.2013.36.
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICGSE.2013.36...
), is the need, in the requirements engineering, verification for completeness of requirements. Sometimes, may need to "think outside the box" to try to identify all the necessary requirements. |
| Leadership |
It refers to the role, position and leader attribute. A leader is an individual who has the authority to command; person whose actions and words have an influence on the behavior and thinking of others. There are individuals with a culture related with leadership, those born leaders, or who have learned to be leaders (Jablokow, 2010Jablokow, K., Myers, M. (2010). Managing Cognitive and Cultural Diversity in Global IT Teams. 2010 5th IEEE
International Conference on Global Software Engineering, 77-86. DOI:10.1109/ICGSE.2010.17.
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICGSE.2010.17...
). An appropriate allocation of these people can influence for the success of a project. It may have relationship to distance power. |
| Motivation |
It is the act of giving reason arouse interest for some activity. Being motivated means that, in addition to have a knowledge and technical skills, the person must have interest in performing a particular function (Schwalbe, 2000Schwalbe, K. (2000). Information Technology Project Management. Course Technology Press, 1 ed., ISBN:076001180X. 561 p.) cited Prickadinick (2003). The motivation directly influences the performance of the realization of an activity by the individual. |
| Controllability |
It refers to the degree of avidity to dominate the surrounding environment. Thus, when a problem arises, users with a high level of controllability tend to change the environment, rather than themselves, whereas people with low culture control capability tend to change themselves rather than the situation engaging (Lee et al. 2008Lee, I., Choi, G. W., Kim, J., Kim, S., Lee, K., Kim, D., Han, M., Park, S. Y., An, Y. (2008). Cultural Dimensions for User Experience: Cross-Country and Cross-Product Analysis of Users’ Cultural Characteristics. BCS-HCI '
08
Proceedings of the
22
nd
British HCI Group Annual Conference on People and Computers: Culture, Creativity, Interaction, 1, 3-12. ISBN: 978-1-906124-04-5.). This involves how an individual will react to certain cases, besides the determination to learn new things. |
| Economic Environment |
It points out that depending on the economic environment, there may be a different culture related to the investment time (Long Orientation or Short Term), and there may be different risks, which interfere with the aversion to uncertainty arising, for example, from an unstable economy . |
| Indulgence versus Restraint |
There are people living in a society, which allows using the gratification of a relatively free way, relating it to enjoy life and have fun. In other societies, the slogan "The work ennobles and dignifies man" is valued (Hofstede et al. 2010Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. McGraw-Hill, 3a ed. ISBN: 978-0071664189, 561p.). Therefore, issues such as reward systems used in an attempt to motivation no effect on certain people. |
| Intellectual Capital |
It refers to the set of knowledge that a person or institution has. The knowledge that individuals can acquire in different locations can be differentiated, resulting in an individual in a certain place can have distinct knowledge of others. Thus, good management of intellectual capital impact on performance in a GSD project, given the variety of people, values and locations involved. |
| Knowledge sharing |
There are people with facility for knowledge transfer as own culture. While others retain the knowledge to himself, influencing the performance of the team and training of new members to the team (Huang and Trauth 2007Huang, H., Trauth, E. M. (2007). Cultural Influences and Globally Distributed Information Systems Development : Experiences from Chinese IT Professionals. Proceedings of the
2007
ACM SIGMIS CPR conference on
Computer personnel research: The global information technology workforce, 36-45. DOI: 10.1145/1235000.1235008.
https://doi.org/10.1145/1235000.1235008....
). |
| Normative X Pragmatic |
There are cultures that follow the rules, the consolidated traditions by time, while others encourage modern education as a way to prepare for the future (Hofstede, 2010Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. McGraw-Hill, 3a ed. ISBN: 978-0071664189, 561p.). The differences in the level and style of education received by the individual impact on the knowledge acquired by him/her. Thus, the heterogeneity of education level can have an impact on the team performance. On the other hand, the different "shapes" can contribute to complementary skills or ways to solve problems. |
| Work planning |
Depending on the culture, the work planning can occur in different ways, depending on other factors such as the investment of time, workload available, among others (Cibotto et al. 2009Cibotto, R. A. G., Pagno, R. T., Tait, T. F. C., Huzita, E. H. M. (2009). Uma Análise da Dimensão Sócio-Cultural no Desenvolvimento Distribuído de Software. V Workshop Um Olhar Sociotécnico Sobre a Engenharia de Software
- WOSES, 96-107.). |
| Affective Culture X Neutral |
Users of affective culture communicate their emotions through language and expressions directly while users of the neutral culture tend to be careful about expressing emotion (Lee et al. 2008Lee, I., Choi, G. W., Kim, J., Kim, S., Lee, K., Kim, D., Han, M., Park, S. Y., An, Y. (2008). Cultural Dimensions for User Experience: Cross-Country and Cross-Product Analysis of Users’ Cultural Characteristics. BCS-HCI '
08
Proceedings of the
22
nd
British HCI Group Annual Conference on People and Computers: Culture, Creativity, Interaction, 1, 3-12. ISBN: 978-1-906124-04-5.), influencing the relationship between individuals, resulting in issues concerned to trust, social capital, among other topics related to GSD. |
| Availability |
It refers to the culture of the people regarding the working day adopted by them. Flexible availability refers to availability outside normal working hours, i.e., a person easily accepts work outside their regular business hours (Leal et al. 2012Leal, G. C. L., Huzita, E. H. M., Tait, T. F. C. (2012). Globalization and Socio-Technical Aspects of Information Systems Development. In: Kalloniatis, C. Innovative Information Systems Modelling Techniques, ISBN 978-953-51-0644-9. DOI: 10.5772/36867.
https://doi.org/10.5772/36867...
). This interferes, for example with the communication (find meeting times compatible), allocation of people. |
| Determination |
It refers to the strong inclination to be persistent in what one wants to achieve. The differences in the intensity of determination and time that an individual can keep it interfere in the planning / development of a project. |
| Effort |
It relates to the enhancement of physical, intellectual and moral forces to carry out a project or task; what it does with difficulty and commitment; animation; stimulation (Houaiss, 2001). The effort may depend on external factors, such as determination, motivation and rewards. |
| Proactivity X Reactivity |
There are people with culture of reacting to events (reactive) and those with ability to anticipate in action, when necessary (proactive) (Vale et al., 2010Vale, L.,Beserra, P., Albuquerque, A. B. (2010). Relevant Skills to Requirement Analysts According to the Literature and the Project Managers Perspective. In: 2010 7th International Conference on the Quality of Information and Communications Technology (QUATIC 2010). DOI: 10.1109/QUATIC.2010.40.
https://doi.org/10.1109/QUATIC.2010.40...
). |
| Remuneration difference |
Depending on the location and personal values, there may be differences in remuneration between local and gender, as well as their acceptance by other members. For instance, there may be people who do not accept that women have same remuneration of a man. Depending on the degree of Power Distance, the salary can vary as well as its acceptance among individuals (Hofstede, 2010Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. McGraw-Hill, 3a ed. ISBN: 978-0071664189, 561p.). |
| Social Capital |
Stark et al. (2007Sarker, S., Kirkeby, S., Chakraborty, S. (2007). Path to “Stardom” in Globally Distributed Teams : An Examination of a Knowledge-centered Perspective using Social Network Analysis., 2007
40
th
Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
(HICSS'07). DOI: 10.1109/HICSS.2007.428.
https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2007.428...
) define Social Capital as "compound of the extension of trust and communication relationships that an individual has with members of his/her team, within a globally distributed team". According to Boden et al. (2009Boden, A., Avram, G., Bannon, L., Wulf, V. (2009). Knowledge Management in Distributed Software Development Teams - Does Culture Matter? 2009
Fourth
IEEE
International Conference on Global Software Engineering, 18-27. DOI:10.1109/ICGSE.2009.10
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICGSE.2009.10...
), members of a team with a high level of Capital Social will have more motivation to exchange knowledge with other team members. |
| Tradition |
Refers to the cultural heritage, legacy of beliefs, techniques, set of moral and spiritual values, transmitted from generation to generation; all that is practiced by habit or custom acquired (Houaiss et al. 2001). They define the part of the personal values, influencing their preferences and decisions. |
Thumbnail
Thumbnail
